Ms. Kelley's Reading Site

Rationale: To become successful readers, it is important that students learn to read fluently. Readers need to become fluent so that they can focus their attention on becoming quick in their ability to read text smoothly, increase expression, and comprehend the text. Effortless word recognition allows students to reflect on what they are reading. To gain fluency and speed, it is best to use the method of repeated reading. Through reading, decoding, crosschecking, mental marking, and rereading, students will be able to confidently improve their reading rate and grow into fluent readers.This will allow the students to be able to enjoy their reading, instead of becoming frustrated. This lesson will allow the students to use the strategy of crosschecking after readings of a decodable text and repeated readings to gain fluency and independence in reading.

 

Materials: Class set of Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy, Timer/stopwatch for each pair, Whiteboard, Fluency check list sheet for each student, Reading Rate form for teacher, Teacher fluency check with comprehension questions attached (one for each student)

 

Procedures:
1. Say: We want to be the very best readers that we can be. In order for us to be the best readers we can be, we must be able to read at a fluent rate. What do you think it means when I say a fluent reader? [Wait for response]. Fluent readers are able to read quickly, smoothly, and with expression because they recognize words automatically. We are able to enjoy a book when we are fluent readers, because we do not have to stop and analyze each word. We can practice fluency by reading a book more than once. Each time we read it, we will become more familiar with it, which is known as repeated reading.

 

2. Say: Now let's look at the sentence written on the board: Jack took the seat in the truck. Everyone put your listening ears on. I want you to tell me if I sound like a fluent reader when I read this sentence aloud to you. "J-j-j, /a/-/a/-/a/, ck-ck-ck, Jack, took the s-s-s, /e/-/e/-/e/, t-t-t, s/e/-/e/-t in the t-t-t, /r/-/r/-/r/, /u/-/u/-/u/, ck-ck-ck. Jack took the set in the truck? Hmmm, that does not make sense, Jack would not take a set. Jack took a s-s-s /E/-/E/, t-t-t in the truck? SEAT! That makes more sense. Did you notice how when I read the sentence I got stuck on the word in the middle? To figure out what that word was, I reread the sentence from the beginning and tried what I thought seat said, set. That did not make sense did it? So I went back to reread to figure out what the word should read that would make sense. This strategy is called crosschecking, it is very important to use when we are learning to become fluent readers. Since I figured out these hard words while reading it helped me become more fluent. Thumbs up if you think you are a fluent reader. Exactly, no I was not reading like a fluent reader because I had to decode the words in the sentence. Here is how a fluent reader would read that sentence: Jack took the seat in the truck. I read the sentence effortlessly, and it was much easier to understand. Now turn to a partner and practice reading the second sentence on the board: Jake the dog barked, playing in the yard. Read it aloud to one another until you read fluently.

3. Say: Now that I have the sentence "Jack took the seat in the truck," what did I get stuck on? I got stuck on the word seat. To figure out how to read the hard word, I had to reread the sentence, remember my correspondences, and focus on my pronunciation. I knew 'set' did not sound correct. After I corrected my mistakes, I went back, reread the sentence, I realized that it actually made sense when I said seat. This strategy is called crosschecking.

4. Assign partners for each student and pass out the books. Say: Today we are going to read Junie B. Jones is a Beauty Shop Guy in order to practice our fluency. In this story, Junie B. wants to be a beauty shop guy when she grows up. But, first she needs a little practice and a few volunteers..like her bunny slippers, her dog...or maybe even herself. Could Junie B. Jones be on her way to cutting hair as a new career, or is she about to have the worst hair day ever? We will have to read to find out what Junie B. is up to with this beauty shop. Follow along in your book while I read the first two pages. I am going to read them three times to practice reading fluently.

 

5. Say: Students will read the next three pages silently to themselves. Then they should each read a couple pages aloud to their partner. They must not help their partner read while they are listening

 

6. Then pass out the recording sheets and stopwatches to each group. Say: "Now we are going to play the fluency game. Put your listening ears back on to understand how to play. One reader is going to start the game off and the other reader will be in control of the timer. The second reader is going to time how fast their partner reads the first two pages. They will then record the time on the sheet that I have handed out. After recording the information, the second reader will read and their partner will time and record. Do this three times each. As you listen to your partner read aloud the pages, I want you to be listening for how their reading changes each time. Do they remember more words, do they read with more expression? Mark these changes on the paper I gave out. Let's get started!

 

7. After the groups have read through the passage three times each, have the students come one at a time to read a paragraph from the first couple pages to you. Ask them to bring their record sheet so you can attach it to the back of the assessment sheet. You will time them on the paragraph read aloud and use the formula given to record how many words per minute they read.
words x 60 / seconds read

Assessment: After the text has been read, I will have the students write in their reading journals about what they have read. This will show what they have learned. I will then call each of my students up one by one and ask comprehension questions to assess how their fluency is affecting their comprehension.

　

Peer Fluency Check

Name of Reader: ____________________

Date: _________________

1st Time: ________

2nd Time: ________

3rd Time: ________

I noticed that my partner…

After which read? 2nd 3rd

Remembered more words ____

Read faster _____

Read smoother _____

Read with expression _____

　

Teacher Fluency Check

Name of Reader: _______________

Date: _________________

Time: ________

Words x 60/time in seconds: _______WPM

 

Comprehension:
1. What was this paragraph about?
2. What characters are being discussed?
3. Is there a problem happening in the story?

　

Sources:

Park, Barbara. Junie B., is a Beauty Shope Guy (Junie B. Jones)

Knowling, Anna: Fluency Fun!!

Moody, Elizabeth: Serving up Fluency